Firefighters Answer 3 Calls

2 House Fires, Kerosene Spill During Weekend

MATHEWS — Two house fires and a kerosene spill have kept the county's volunteer firemen busy in the short time since the new year began.

An unoccupied, two-story home on Route 647 near Mathews Court House was heavily damaged by a New Year's Day fire that began about 6 p.m. The house belonged to Robert Watts of Alexandria.

The fire did the most damage to two rooms at the rear of the structure, said Fire Chief Danny Howlett of the Mathews Volunteer Fire Department. The majority of the dwelling received extensive heat and smoke damage, he said. The cost of the damage was unavailable.

Howlett said he suspects an electrical short in the kitchen area caused the fire. Workmen had recently been using extension cords while they were doing repairs or remodeling in the kitchen, he said. Some of their equipment was destroyed.

About 36 volunteer firefighters were on the scene about six hours, he said.

Many were called back out about three hours later when fire destroyed an unoccupied two-story house off Route 14 in Foster owned by French Strothers of Richmond. When firefighters arrived at 2:55 a.m., the dwelling had burned to the ground, said Howlett. "At that point we just tried to contain it by putting out the remaining embers."

Firefighters were on the scene about three hours.

A short circuit is also suspected in this blaze, Howlett said. The house was valued at about $20,000.

An estimated 250 gallons of kerosene was accidentally spilled near the North River on New Year's Day after land near the residence of John W. Lewis Jr. gave way during the recent thaw, Howlett said.

The incident occurred at 2:04 p.m. after water-softened ground gave way under the weight of a drum containg the kerosene, said Howlett.

The drum collapsed and spilled the fuel, which drained toward the river from Lewis' property on North River Road, he said.

Firefighters and U.S. Coast Guard personnel used sand to absorb the flow. The sand was also used to form dikes to block the drainage. The Coast Guard supplied yards of a special absorbant cloth to help soak up the fuel, said Howlett.